What about Slumps?

Slumps. We all have them. It’s just something that happens. Call it the god’s way of reminding us to not take the good times for granted. But should we accept that an occasional slump is inevitable or should we stand up to it? Study it, know it, and own it? Should we fight it for every last blind or ante that it would otherwise devour?

I, for one, am going to fight. With three slumps under the belt and easily over a grand lost to them, I am of the opinion that slumps are an evil pestilence that needs to be dealt with accordingly. But I had no idea where to start.

Then I read a recent post from Ship It, Fish that said that there is a “rule of thumb that you should always play lower than your regular stakes when you travel.” Somehow, I had never heard this before but it immediately made sense. There are lots of factors from traveling that could cause you to have a bad poker day. Jetlag, uncomfortablility with new surroundings, inability to get laid on an airplane, and increased stress are a few that pop in my mind. And since having a slump is like have a really long drawn out bad day, it would make sense to look for something that maximizes factors like the ones caused by a trip.

Here’s what I came up with. Moving. Ending a Long-Term Relationship. Loss or Change of Job. All three of these increase stress and reduce comfort in everyday life. More importantly all of these force us to break and change our routine. These can weaken us and open us to the dangers of a slump.

Unfortunately, these three things are often unavoidable parts of life. We need to find a way to deal with them. One way would be to stop playing poker at all. But who wants to do that? I think the same advice given for traveling by Ship It, Fish could be well adapted for possible slumping due to major changes. One could play well under his/her normal stakes until normalcy and routine return. This way one would not notice the losses as much or suffer to the same monetary degree from frustration-wrought bad play. One also would not have to give up poker this way.

When I look back at my three slumps, do I see the truth behind this? Although circumstantial, the answer is yes. Before my first slump, I finished college, broke up with my girlfriend of more than two years, and moved twice. All of this happened within about one month. When my second slump hit, I was in the process of moving from Los Angeles to Oregon to live with my parents for a few months. My third slump hit right before I was to quit playing poker and move to Thailand. All three slumps revolved around major lifestyle changes and while none could have been avoided, perhaps they wouldn’t have been so bad if I had stepped down and took it easy while I adjusted. Perhaps a lot of people would deal better with change if they took it a little easier until things balanced out.